News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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by Scott Hunter The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville Tribes) and Open Access Technology International, Inc. (OATI) announced a landmark collaboration last week to “advance tribal energy sovereignty and resilience through the design and deployment of multiple microgrids across the reservation.” The Tribes’ 1.4 million acre reservation, which includes parts of two counties is served by five different electric utilities, and power outages are getting worse, said the Tribes’ Business Council chair, Jarred-Michael Erickso...
Dear Mayor Poch and City Clerk Bowden, Please share this email with Council Member Black, Council Member Schmidt, Council Member Adkins, Council Member Hall, and Council Member St. Jeor, since I can’t seem to locate their email addresses on the Town of Coulee Dam website. I understand the challenges our communities face, especially rural towns, when balancing pinched budgets during these difficult times. I have spent the last year participating in these discussions across the state, and I’ve seen how difficult these decisions can be and how...
by Scott Hunter It's been 69 years since Nespelem High School graduated a class of students, but that longed-for possibility finally became a reality last week. A class of nine students graduated May 29, 2025, in a commencement ceremony before a gym full of relatives and community members. Nespelem School Board Chair Jolene Marchand, in a commencement address, related the story of the dream now come true. In 1956 the state said it was consolidating schools. Nespelem's high school was closed,...
A teacher at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School thought he was just attending a pep assembly Friday when his name was called to receive a statewide award as educator of the year. Derek Atkins, who graduated from Lake Roosevelt, teaches science there now and revived a club that was important to his own development and direction. The pep assembly turned out to be a well-kept secret to surprise him. Shawn Brehm, a Wellpinit teacher who serves as the chair of the Washington Education Association's Cau...
Directors of the two school districts impacted by a recent policy change got together for a meal and sometimes spirited discussion Tuesday night. The full Nespelem School District Board of Directors and two from Grand Coulee Dam School District met at Hometown Pizza, a meeting prompted by discontent at Nespelem over a new policy at GCD that will not allow students from other districts to participate in their sports programs, beginning next school year. Its passage laid bare perceptions that came out during the discussion. Nespelem didn’t a...
Fixing the heating and cooling system in Coulee Dam’s “Community Building,” where the Rio Grande Restaurant, the bowling alley and soon a reopened theater operate, just got a higher priority. The city council OK’d a plan to tap funds, if needed to patch the roof, as Larry Hernandez digs into his project to get a new HVAC system in the building. He’s been consulting with companies to get the place heated over the winter. Hernandez plans to re-open the Village Cinema, which close 11 years ago when the industry changed to require all digital p...
The Colville Tribes will receive over $400,000 for their inmate reentry program from a Department of Justice grant created to support public safety in tribal communities. Coming from the federal agency’s Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation funding, the award came as part of a package of federal grants totaling $6.9 million for state, municipal and tribal law enforcement programs, as well as medical examiner offices in Washington state. Specifically, the $424,623 for the Colville Tribes will go toward hiring a new reentry coordinator ...
After a process going back more than two years, the Banks Lake Golf Course will soon be owned and operated by descendents of the area's original people: the Colville Confederated Tribes. Grant County Port District #7 Commissioners quickly voted to approve moving forward with the $1.2 million purchase and sale agreement after Commission Chair Jim Keene gave a presentation on the negotiations and terms at a June 11 Port Commission meeting. It was the only item on the agenda. "I'll just say that...
The Banks Lake Pumped Storage Project has lingered since Columbia Basin Hydropower first brought it to the attention of local leaders in 2016. Lately the project, planned to generate 500 to 1,000 megawatts of hydropower by moving water in an underground tunnel between Banks Lake and Lake Roosevelt, has drawn attention from a new potential investor and developer. But questions remain, hurdles are high, and clear steps forward are a ways off for the proposed project that would involve...
Kathryn McDonald Womer (SAMANXN), was born on March 10, 1936, in Disautel, Washington to Charles and Millie (Joe) McDonald. She was 88 years old when she passed on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Kathy attended St. Mary's Mission boarding school on the Colville Indian Reservation. From there she attended Mary Cliff High School, in Spokane, Washington. It was during this period she met Raymond Womer, ended up quitting school and getting married in 1955 at the Hitching Post in Post Falls, Idaho. Later in... Full story
Multiple law enforcement agencies investigated a missing persons case beginning on Saturday, April 27. Colville tribal member Amanda Pakootas was missing and reported by police to be held against her will with a man named Joseph Parisien. She was located April 29 near East Fourth Street and Nelson in Spokane. She was reported to be safe. Parisien was taken into custody Tuesday night, April 30, according to a press release from the Colville Tribes, sent out the next day. “Amanda’s family wishes to thank the law enforcement officers who inv...
Respected elder of the Colville Tribes, Frank LaFountaine has passed away at age 76. He served on the Colville Business Council for the Nespelem District from 1980 through 1984. LaFountaine graduated magna cum laude from Seattle Pacific College in 1970. He earned a juris doctorate from the University of Washington School of Law and became an attorney. In addition to his service on Tribal Council, he also served his community as a lawyer. He spent years working in Colville Tribal Court at various times as a prosecutor, a public defender, and an...
City of Grand Coulee NOTICE TO CONSULTANTS FOR SPOKANE WAY IMPROVEMENTS The City of Grand Coulee solicits interest from consulting firms with expertise in Civil and Structural Engineering Design. This agreement will be for approximately two years in duration with the option for the City of Grand Coulee to extend it for additional time and money if necessary. Consultants will be considered for the following project. The City of Grand Coulee reserves the right to amend terms of this “Request for Qualifications” (RFQ) to circulate various add... Full story
Ceremonial gold shovels overturned dirt after prayers, songs and speeches Tuesday, celebrating the coming construction of a new convalescent center north of Elmer City, where the Colville Tribes will build the new facility for elders and other clientele. Praise was high for the project and those who moved obstacles and legislatures to get it underway, but details were scarce. Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Business Council of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, said...
Twenty Years Ago Concerned about the effect a new sidewalk would have on the parking and safety of his building, a Grand Coulee businessman disputed the cities plan to repair Burdin Boulevard. Milt Snyder does not want a sidewalk placed in front of the alley that runs beside and behind the west end of his building. The council said they would give it another look. A proposed curriculum plan at Grand Coulee Dam School District may affect athletic eligibility. Unless some kids raise their reading and math levels in the next couple of years they...
Nespelem School is hoping to find extra land on which to expand with a future sports area. The board voted last week to formally inquire with the Colville Tribes about land across the street currently held in trust status that the school board members recall being acquired by the tribes for that purpose. The board met in special session Dec. 26 specifically to authorize a letter to Colville Business Council Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson to address the topic. “It was years ago that the tribe had let us know that they had purchased the p...
The Colville Tribes is saddened to announce the passing of Colville tribal descendant MaryJayn (MJ) Louise LaPlante. She was 16 years old, born on January 3, 2007. MaryJayn LaPlante was a junior at Wilbur High School. She served as the Vice President of the Keller Youth Council and demonstrated great leadership in her position. Some of her notable accomplishments were organizing the Back to School Clothing Drive for the Keller school and the Colville Business Council candidate forum. MaryJayn...
(Nespelem, WA) - The Colville Tribal Police assisted in the execution of a search warrant on May 9, 2023 and seized more than 1,000 fentanyl-laced pills. The seizure included 20 firearms and drug paraphernalia. Stolen property was also recovered, including stolen firearms and valuable personal property. The property owner, 63-year-old Daniel Curdie, was arrested and booked into Okanogan County jail on charges of delivery of a controlled substance, unlawful use of a building for drug-related... Full story
(Nespelem, WA) — More than 161,000 fentanyl-laced pills were seized on April 19, 2023. The seizure also included approximately 80 pounds of methamphetamine, 6 pounds of heroin and more than 2 pounds of cocaine. The drugs are believed to have been headed to the Colville Reservation and other Native American communities. Twelve firearms were also seized. Five individuals have been indicted so far in federal court by the United States Attorney for Eastern Washington for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of actual (pure) methamphetamine a...
(Nespelem, WA) - The Colville Tribes is saddened to announce the passing of Colville Tribal member Pauline Stensgar. She was 96 years old. Pauline Stensgar was the last fully fluent speaker of the nxa?amxcin dialect. She dedicated her life to preserving and revitalizing the language. Her most recent project was establishing a nxa?amxcin dictionary, which is near completion. Pauline dedicated a total of 48 years of service to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and was the... Full story
The Colville Business Council announced Thursday that it had expelled from the CBC its vice chairman, the elected representative of the Keller District, for “using his position to obtain financial gain or something of substantial value …” A public notice dated April 13 said the council, the governing body of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, had earlier held an evidentiary hearing in allegations of unethical conduct, which resulted in a “findings of fact.” The notice said that Ferguson had “appeared before a department...
If 2023 Colville Business Council (CBC) candidates know, let alone understand, what organized racketeering is, can they attack its head, the colonized CBC, on the Colville Indian Reservation (CIR)? “Part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) makes it unlawful to acquire, operate, or receive income from an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. Geared toward ongoing organized criminal activities, the underlying tenet of RICO is to prove and prohibit a pattern o...
7 candidates for Colville Business Council (CBC), what do you commit to your claim as a “candidate for change”? What change? Year after year, “change” turns out to be about another face replacing the same dysfunctional-type council member. It is extremely rare a council candidate shows up with an original idea. Let’s start here: On behalf of the Tribes and Tribal Members, the CBC may file legal claims for damages against corporations and other governments. Orion Donovan-Smith, orionds@spokesman.com, Spokesman Review 8/4/21 reported,...
Virgil “Smoker” Marchand passed away Jan. 13. Smoker was currently serving in the Colville Business Council as an elected representative from the Omak District. The Chairman of the Colville Tribes, Jarred-Michael Erickson, said, “The Colville Business Council is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our colleague, Smoker Marchand. Smoker was a strong voice for his people and he brought a unique perspective to tribal government. We will all miss him.” The Chairman continued, “There will be time in the future to discuss Smoker’s life and ac...
Here’s a look at the most popular stories in The Star over the last year. January Stolen car found abandoned at Keller Ferry after chase A stolen Cadillac that police stopped following because of a new state law was found at the Keller Ferry Marina the next day anyway. Washington State House Bill 1054 took effect in 2021 and limits, among other things, the circumstances in which an officer can pursue a vehicle in a chase, including circumstances related to probable cause, weather conditions, the safety of others, and more. A local officer h...
